4a. Inhalant Anesthetics Flashcards
What are some inhalant drugs that were historically used and are now currently used?
Hx: diethyl ether (Vomiting and explosive), chloroform (vomiting, nausea), halothan - no longer available
Current: isoflurance, sevoflurane
How is inhalants delivered?
liquid at room temperatore, stored in a vaporizer
vaporizer pressurized drug > turns into gas as a specific partial pressure
a set amount of anesthetic gas mixes with oxygen > delivers to patient
How are inhalant drugs absorpbed?
drug delivered into lungs when patient breathes in anesthetic gas mixed w/ O2
Drug enters alveolar sacs
Conc of drug in alveolar sac is higher than conc of drug in plasma
Drug diffuses across alveoli along conc gradient > enters circulation
How is inhalant drugs distributed?
Once drug enters plasma, is rapidly distributed to brain because drug is very lipid soluble, brain high in fat, brain receives lots of blood flow, drug moves along steep conc gradient: highest conc in alveoli > blood>brain, so long as drug is being delivered to lungs, will maintain brain lvls. drug active so long as in brain
not as rapid as injectable anesthetics
How is inhalant drugs metabolized?
They are <0.1% metabolized by drug. Essentially, it is not metabolized
Drugs that require liver metabolism have an extended “hangover” effect
Benefits: pharmacokinetics are unaffected by liver dz
How is inhalant anesthetics eliminated?
99.99% eliminated via lungs in active form
when gas is turned off, conc gradient reverses - higher conc in brain > rapidly enters blood > diffuses across alveoli into lungs > exhaled
As drug leaves brain, patient wakes up
How might we be able to speed up eliminating inhalant anesthetics?
can inc rate of elim by inc the conc gradient btw brain and lung/outside
1. Flushing circuit (removing drug from the lungs, mask/ETT, tubing)
2. Giving more 100% O2
How can we summarize inhalant anesthetic drug movement?
Diffusion rate controlled by conc gradient btw alveolus and blood
During induction, conc gradient highest in alveoli, lower in blood and lowest in brain, so drug move rapidly from alveoli > blood > brain
When anesthetic machine off, gradient reverses so brain > blood > alveoli
Maintenance is dependant on sufficient quantities of anesthetic delivered to lungs
takes time to reach therapeutic lvls in brain; but elimination very rapid
What are the advantages of inhalants?
- rapid elim thru lungs
- easy + fast to alter amount of drug in brain by delivering more/less into lungs. Easy to adjust depth of anesthesia
- Good muscle relaxation
- Very rapid recovery
- Can us in patients with liver/renal dz
- Patient is intubated and 100% O2 is available int he event resp depression or arrest
What are the disadvantages of inhalants?
- takes a long time to induce
- expensive equipment required w/ train personnel
- NO analgesia
- Hypotension (severe vasodilation) and moderate bradycardia
- Hypothermia - related to temp of O and heat loss thru vasodilation
What is the precautions and adverse effects of inhalant anesthetics
- dose-dependant, reversible CNS depression
- Dec HR, cardiac output
- Dec RR and tidal volume (always dec under GA. Goal to min. change
- Vasodilation!! w/ 2nd hypoperfusion
- Hypothermia - cold 100% O, vasodilation, lack of shivering
- Can cause renal damage due to dec BP - watch old, renal patients, patients on drugs that affect kidneys
What are important points to know if we are going to induce with inhalant anesthetics
never preferred. Acceptable in cats, small dogs, exotics bc cannot find vein bc fractious. Duration of GA is required is much shorter than what injectable anesthetics provide
Ideally patient also has premed
takes longer than injectable anesthetics - requires time to achieve effective levels in brain, longer transition through stage 1-2 are unpleasant for patient
req very high doses - inc risk of adverse effects, especially vasodilation
not indicated in large animals
If an inhalant anesthetic is not done through an ETT, how else can it be done?
Through chamber or mask
space of mask/chamber also needs to fill with a certain amount of drug, before drug conc gradient is high enough to move drug into blood
chamber induction takes longer and can be very stressful
Why is inhalant anesthetics the preferred maintenance anesthetic?
1 choice for all species given current techniques
easy to maintain in therapeutic range for long periods
can rapidly adjust depth of consciousness; can rapidly respond if patient is too light or too deep
faster elimination and recover than any of the injectables
Reminder: always keep anesthetic time as short as possible. Longer anesthetic times have an increased risk of complications, and have longer recovery times
How is the recovery with inhalants?
preferred bc of its smooth and rapid recovery
drug is almost entirely eliminated by lungs by breathing out (does not req waiting for liver metabolism and no redistribution to fat)
can accelerate rate of elimination by providing the lungs with more oxygen or getting drug out of lungs faster (Flushing the system)
What are the 3 chemical properties of inhalant anesthetics
- vapor pressure - how readily the drug evaporates, determins how it is delivered
- Blood-gas partition co-efficient - affects how rapidly we can increase or decrease drug lvls in the body
- Minimum alveolar conc (MAC)
used to calculate drug dose
What is vapor pressure?
A measure of the ability to evaporate under normal atmospheric pressure - remember that molecules enter the gas phase more readily under low pressures
determines how a drug is to be delivered - determines type of precision vaporizer required, precision vaporizers are canisters with a regulated internal pressure
What is a precision vaporizor?
a canister with a regulated internal pressure
What are low vapor pressure drugs?
These drugs DO NOT evaporate readily
there is very little of the drug that goes into gas form on its own; this limits the amount of drug that mixes with oxygen
safe to give with a non-precision vaporizer because a minimal amount of drug will be in gas form at atmospheric pressure
What is high pressure drugs
drugs with high vapor pressure evaporate readily from liquid to gas
at atmospheric pressure, these drugs like to be present in gas form so likely to get a higher percent of drug mixed w/ oxygen
Must be given by precision vaporizer - precision vaporizers have internal pressures; this limits the amount of drug present in gas form, limits amount of anesthetic agent
Which drugs do we use are considered high vs low pressure?
All are high pressure drugs
Desflurane > halothan > isoflurane and sevoflurane in order of highest to least highest pressure